Category:Kadwaya, Madhya Pradesh

Kadwaya, Madhya Pradesh 

A village and historic site from the 8th to 17th century
Upload media
Instance of	village
Location	Ashoknagar district, Gwalior division, Madhya Pradesh, India
24° 57′ 49″ N, 77° 55′ 05.2″ E
Authority file  Q115697230 Reasonator Scholia Wikidocumentaries PetScan statistics WikiMap Locator tool KML file WikiShootMe OpenStreetMap Search depicted

Kadwaya, also referred to as Kadwaha, is a historic Hindu site in north Madhya Pradesh. With ancient roots, Kadwaya developed into a monumental Hindu temples town between 8th and 11th century. By the 12th century, it contained over fifteen group of temples, a Shaiva monastery-college site, a range of wells, gardens, and water tanks, according to the scholar Tamara Sears. Kadwaha's rapid growth and fame was partly because of its significance to a Mattamayuras-related Shiva tradition as well as partly because it was on the trade route between the northern kingdoms including those in the Yamuna-Ganga river plains and those in the Deccan and central Indian valleys. This site was not exclusive to the Shaiva tradition; of the fifteen temple groups, five were dedicated to Vishnu, the other ten a blend of Shaiva-Shakta (that is, Shiva and Devi-goddess traditions).

The town was among the earliest targets of conquest by the Delhi Sultanate. The monastery built around itself a fort, in response to attacks and plunder by the Khaljis (c. 1290–1316). The town and this fort was conquered by the Tughluq army of the Delhi Sultanate and converted into an Islamic outpost with mosque. It later became a strategic outpost for the Mughals. During this period, many of the temples were reduced to ruins and desecrated. Of these, nine sites of Hindu temples, the Shaiva monastery along with many inscriptions have survived into the modern age. These are important to an objective understanding of the history of central India.

The most important Kadwaha ruins and sites include the monastery with Bhuteshwara temple, Akhati group of Hindu temples, Bag group, Chandla temple, Ekla temple, Khirna group, Marghatia temple, Pacchali group and the Muryata group of Hindu temples.

(Note: Madhya Pradesh has two villages named Kadwaha, separated by nearly 200 kilometers. One is close to the Dhasan river (not this categrory). This category is for the village in the west, close to the historic town of Chanderi.)